


Quarantine

by storiebook



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Corona - Freeform, Quarantine, quarantine fic, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:54:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23401042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiebook/pseuds/storiebook
Summary: The coronavirus has put the entire world in lockdown, social distancing is the new normal, and Remus is restless inside his apartment. However, with some help from his best friend and roommate, Sirius, he finds that quarantine isn't so bad afterall.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 27
Kudos: 110





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's corona time, y'all. Of course I'm gonna channel that into my writing. So here is a little wolfstar in quarantine! Idk how long it will be or... if I'll finish it (please let me finish SOMETHING in this lifetime) so.. yeah, here we go.  
> The POV changes so be aware; it's not hard to realize, I think. But choosing a POV is hard especially when you want to show both characters feelings and I didn't start in an overall omniscient voice like I probably could've so whatever this is how it be. Take it or leave it.

There were permanent indents in the carpet as Remus followed his path back and forth in front of the fireplace. His eyes were fixed upon the ground in front of him and he was stroking his chin as if in contemplation, though Sirius doubted there was any real thought in his head.

  
Sirius heaved a great sigh and leaned forward from where he was lounging on the couch. He rested his elbows on his knees and stared daggers at his roommate. “Would you just sit down? You’re making the whole room spin, Moony.”

  
Remus did not, in fact, sit down. Or even stop moving for that matter. “I can’t help it. I need to go do… something!”

  
“It’s been two days, Remus.” Sirius reminded him.

  
“And this quarantine is supposed to last an entire month, Pads. What am I supposed to do!”

  
“What you always do… read?” Sirius offered. “It’s not that big a change from your normal life. You’re inside most of the time anyway, why are you freaking out about this?”

  
Remus finally stopped his incessant pacing and turned, dumbfounded, to his friend. He opened his mouth as if to say something and then promptly shut it again. “I don’t know,” He said, wiping his hand down his face in exasperation. “I just feel… trapped all of a sudden.”

  
“And I’m sure you’re not the only one. You’re free to go anywhere, even if you don’t want to, and then suddenly that freedom is gone. It’s a big change, Moons.” Remus plopped himself down on the sofa next to him and groaned. “But, think of it this way; we get a whole month's vacation to do anything we want, just the two of us!”

  
Remus lolled his head towards Sirius who leaned back into the sofa to be level with him. “I suppose…”

  
“We could play endless Mario Kart or you could finally get around to reading fucking… War and Peace, I don’t know, Re.” He slung his arm over the back of the sofa, Remus’ hair brushing softly against his skin.

  
“I wonder how James and Peter are holding up.” Remus said, adjusting his head so that it rested more on Sirius’ arm than on the sofa. Sirius made no move to correct this and resisted the satisfied smirk that was threatening to creep onto his face as he studied the man next to him.

  
They had been friends since grade school, forming an unexplainable bond between them and their friends James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. Even now, after they had all graduated, they strained to stay near each other, to stay connected and preserve that friendship that was so dear to them. Peter lived alone in a little flat two streets away, even though Remus and Sirius had offered to get a three bedroom with him, and James lived with his new and very pregnant wife, Lily, in the town over.

  
“I’m sure they’re just fine. We can all do a group video call once a week if it makes you feel better.”

  
Remus met his eyes and gave and Sirius saw that some of the stress had gone from his face. “It would, actually.”

  
Sirius smiled and shook his head at him, knowing full well that he would soon begin to miss his friends too. But he also saw this as an opportunity to spend as much time as possible with the man he loved, whether or not that love was requited.

  
“You mentioned Mario Kart?”

  
Sirius ruffled the golden locks and pulled his arm from where it was trapped behind them. He grabbed the game remotes from the coffee table and handed one to Remus.

“I call Yoshi!” He said elbowing Sirius in the side to sabotage him scrolling to the character quicker. The grin on Remus’ face made Sirius’ eyes light up. When Sirius’ icon didn’t move, Remus looked over at him in anticipation, his eyes alight and the smile still playing on his lips. They caught eyes and it took Sirius a moment to break from his gaze and finally choose a character. He felt Remus bump his shoulder and was suddenly glad they were living in the middle of a world-wide pandemic so that he could see that smile whenever he wanted.

  
Yes, Sirius thought, he was going to enjoy this.

* * *

Sirius had beaten him six times now, Remus usually beating the computer players and getting second place. Without a word, he placed his remote back on the coffee table and brushed Sirius’ arm as he stood up. “I’m going to make dinner, any preference?”

  
Sirius didn’t look up from the game as he switched it from two players to one. “No,” he said simply, sinking further into the couch. Remus had a sudden urge to lean down and place a small peck at his roommates temple but shook his head and retreated to the kitchen. They were pretty well-stocked, not hoarded level but normal, sane person in a pandemic level.

  
Remus wasn’t a master chef or anything but he could follow a recipe. He searched the pantry for a moment before deciding he didn’t want to spend too much time cooking tonight. It may be the third time this week he made pesto pasta but he didn’t really care, and he knew Sirius wasn’t one to complain when he didn’t have to do the work himself.

  
They ate on the sofa, discarding their bowls on the coffee table for later. Sirius was still distracted by his game, having swapped Mario Kart for Legend of Zelda. Remus grabbed a book and curled into the corner of the couch, beginning right where he left off.

  
Several chapters later, he was yawning and his eyes drifted lazily from sentence to sentence. He closed the book to find that somehow in the past couple of hours, Sirius had worked his way to Remus’ side of the couch and now lounged comfortably in his lap. He reached to put the book back on the coffee table, startling Sirius. He heard a distant yelp from the television, telling him his character had probably taken a good bit of damage and the warmth Sirius had brought to him was suddenly gone.

  
“Sorry, I didn’t realize.” He said, retreating back to the other side of the couch.

  
“No worries, Pads.” It wasn’t as if they hadn’t sat that close before. Sitting four people on a couch wasn’t easy and they ended up entangled quite often. He didn’t know how to ask him to come back, to lay his head back against his stomach so he could run his fingers through his hair and fall asleep in his scent.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus's nightmares return and Sirius comforts him like he has so many nights before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Woot woot! It's a bit shorter but that's that I suppose, It's a wonder I even made this more than one part, you'll see all my other fics are one-shots. I don't know how long this will be, probably not super long but I'm thinking I could drag it for four or five chapters. Hope you enjoy!!

It took Sirius a moment to determine what had awoken him. The flat was quiet for a moment, he listened intently to the darkness that surrounded him, remembering the scream that had penetrated his dreams. Deep, guttural groans sounded from the bedroom next door and he threw his legs over the side of the bed, stepping lightly to avoid creaky floorboards.

He knocked lightly before opening his roommates door, peeking beyond the threshold to see a mop of golden curls covered in a duvet. “Moony?” He kept his voice soft, just above a whisper. He crept further into the room, seeing that Remus was still fast asleep. He sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly.

The groans stopped as he marked a path from his friend's collarbone to his scarred cheek, tracing the marks with his thumb. He carded his fingers through the curls he adored so greatly, his heart melting as Remus’ breaths began to even out, the strain in his features going soft again.

He sat like that until he noticed the sun beginning to peek through the windows. Testing his luck, he bent down and placed a soft kiss just between his roommates eyebrows, praying he wouldn’t wake up to the touch, before leaving him to rest a bit longer in the early light of day.

It had been weeks since he heard Remus having nightmares, years since they’d spoken about them. He knew they were tied to childhood trauma but his friend would never give details. The scars on his face were enough of a hint to tell his friends not to pry, that something horrible had happened and that’s all they needed to know.

At school, they would take turns waking Moony from his nightmares, shaking him vigorously and calming him with a glass of water or some chamomile tea. Sirius had long discovered that there was no need to wake him, all he needed to do was be there, place a hand on his friends arm or entwine their fingers together. Remus never knew, but there were many nights where Sirius slept slumped on the floor against his bed, subconsciously carding his fingers through his friends hair.

* * *

Remus had awoken to a soft touch on his forehead. He felt fingers in his hair, massaging his scalp and an undeniable weight on the bed next to him. He didn’t open his eyes for fear of it being a dream. He could smell Sirius next to him, feel his lips upon his face. He wanted to live in this moment forever.

All too quickly it was over and his best friend was softly closing his bedroom door as he left him to wake up alone.

He remembered the nightmares, the wounds being slashes across his cheek. That must have been the reason Sirius was there. He remembered in school, when his friends would wake him up. And then, they didn’t. Sometime during fourth year he was no longer awoken in the middle of the night. Instead, when the nightmares came, they never lasted. Halfway through the night they would disappear and his slumber would become quiet and peaceful.

Remus had never really questioned this, chalked it up to his subconscious avoiding being awoken by ridding him of the nightmares itself. He wondered now if this had been wrong all along. Had Sirius sat at his bedside, night after night, calming him while he slept?

He mulled this over while making a cup of tea. Taking it out to where he knew he would find his roommate on the doorstep. He left the door open, letting the cool air into the flat as he leaned against the doorframe with Sirius on the ground at his feet. He traded the cup of tea for the half-gone cigarette between Sirius’ fingers and took a short drag from it.

“How long have you been doing that?” He saw Sirius’ shoulders tense at his words. He wanted to thank him for making the nightmares go away. He knew he was sacrificing his own sleep to do so, it was no small favor. However, he wasn’t going to mention the kiss that Sirius had placed upon his forehead. He needed time to process it first. He had been in love with his best friend for as long as he could remember. His heart would be broken to find that this small gesture of affection was purely platonic. Remus was afraid to jump to conclusions, to confess his love only to severe their friendship and change their demeanor around each other.

When Sirius didn’t answer, Remus sat next to him and swapped back the cigarette for the tea. “Thank you.” He said softly, taking a sip. “Have you slept?”

“A bit.”

Remus smiled knowingly at that. “Good thing we’re under quarantine so you have all day to sleep.”

“I don’t need that much sleep, I’m used to it.” Sirius brushed off.

“I wish you would have told me.”

“You would have told me to stop and just wake you up instead.”

“You’re right.” Remus replied. “My sleep is not more important than yours. You need rest, Sirius.”

“I’m rested enough.”

Remus realized he wasn’t going to get anywhere with his friend so they sat the rest of the time in silence before going back inside.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A light chapter, with lots of filler. Oops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, I have come to the conclusion that this fic will be four chapters! So one more to go after this. Hope you all enjoyed this mess of thing I've written.

Remus awoke to the sound of voices down the hall. Keeping his movements soft as to not alert Sirius to his presence, he crept lightly out of his room and stood just out of sight to listen. 

“He’s been having nightmares again.” He heard Sirius say.

There was no audible reply so he could only assume he was on the phone, most likely with James. He hoped James wasn’t worrying too much about him and instead asking Sirius if he had been getting enough sleep, if he was okay. Remus could never tell. Sirius was always the one to comfort him, during school when he’d have to be away from everyone for a weekend every month, when he had nightmares, countless other times… He would return the favor if ever given the opportunity but Sirius kept quiet about his hardships. Remus knew some things of his past, knew his parents weren’t too keen on him and abused him quite violently as a child. But James was his best friend, so he knew more of the situation than Remus did. 

“They last as long as I let them, which isn’t long at all.” Sirius said into the phone. “I hate to see him that way, hurting and helpless.” Remus took a step forward, into the light. Sirius looked up to meet his eyes and gave him a tender smile. “What are you doing later?” There was a pause before, “Okay, ring Peter, I’ll call you both later.” 

As Sirius hung up the phone, Remus made his way over to the couch and sat down next to him. “Fancy a call with the lads later?” Sirius asked brightly. Remus grinned at him, the smile only half reaching his eyes. 

Sirius prodded him in the side with his foot that was sprawled across the cushions. He knew something was on Remus’ mind, he always knew. “Again last night?” Remus asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Transitioning to quarantine is hard, it’s only natural for your nightmares to have resurfaced.”

“How much sleep did you get?”

“It’s not important.”

“It is to me.”

Sirius gave him a look that penetrated straight through him, as if he knew every argument that Remus would give and had already come up with defenses for them.

“You need to take care of yourself too, Sirius.”

Before Remus could even process what had happened, Sirius had leaned forward, placed a quick peck on his cheek, and said, “I’m fine, Remus.” Before getting up from the couch and retreating into the kitchen.

Remus sat stunned, living that moment over and over again in his head. The ghost of Sirius’ lips never quite left his cheek, even as he gingerly touched a finger to the place they had been. It was nothing, a small gesture of comfort, a way to brush off his concerns. Yet, to Remus, it was everything. 

* * *

He hadn’t meant to kiss him. His head obviously had not been on straight, perhaps because of his lack of sleep. Whatever the cause, he decided, for the sake of his tangled insides, he would avoid Remus the rest of the day. 

He took a cup of tea out to the doorstep, knowing his roommate only shared cigarettes with him when something was on his mind, and sat in solace for the good part of two hours. Knowing his roommate would get suspicious, especially during this global pandemic that kept him from actually going anywhere, he went back inside and promptly disappeared to his bedroom.

He didn’t have much to do, so he finally gave in to the exhaustion and let his eyes droop closed, drifting off into the sleep he had missed the past few nights. 

It had been barely noon when he fell asleep but the sun was nearly set when his eyes fluttered open. He grabbed his phone to check the time and saw several texts from his group chat with James, Peter, and Remus. They seemed to have all agreed to video chat at 7pm. It being 6:58, Sirius leaped from his bed and bounded into the living room.

Remus chuckled at his sudden appearance. “I was wondering if I was going to have to come wake you up.” He shook his head at his friend, smiling, just as his phone started to ring. 

“Scoot over,” He said to Remus, who had been sitting in the middle of the couch where the cushions met. He sat down tentatively, making sure no part of his body touched his friends. Still remembering his slip from that morning. He thanked the gods above that Remus had yet to say anything about it. And on a video call with their friends certainly wasn’t the time. 

He answered the phone and smiled at his friends, suddenly realizing how much he’d missed their faces. Without warning, Remus squashed himself into his side. He knew this was only to be better seen through the screen but Sirius reveled in the touch. 

They spoke to James and Peter for a good two hours before Lily pulled James away and Peter took his leave to make dinner. Leaving Sirius and Remus still squashed into each other's sides and smiling at the blank phone screen. 

“Screw this stupid pandemic,” Sirius said, shaking his head. He looked over at Remus, who was looking back at him. Remus put a hand on his shoulder and gave a light squeeze which was all he needed to know that Remus saw right through his nonchalance about being in quarantine. And he was grateful. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius convinces Remus to day drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This could honestly work as a one-shot but whatever. I think this chapter is pretty good. It's a lot longer than the others, which I like. So... hope y'all enjoy!!

Remus didn't have any nightmares the night after they spoke to James and Peter. Sirius stayed awake late into the night anyway, prepared to chase those nightmares away. It was nearly four in the morning when Sirius decided they weren't coming tonight and let himself drift into a deep slumber. He dreamt of Remus. Beneath a tree in a large, grassy field. The sun broke through leaves, alighting his face with a soft glow. He could bask in this sight forever. As his dream-self approached Remus, they met eyes and the most beautiful grin lit up his face. Sirius' heart lurched at the sight. He sat next to him in the grass under the tree and Remus leaned into him. He put his arm around him, holding him close. He closed his eyes, basking in the sunlight that peeked through the tree and hoped he would never wake up.

But, alas, every dream must come to an end. He was awoken by something soft and light hitting him square in the face. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around for what it had been and saw a pillow from the couch on the floor next to his bed. "Get up!" He looked over to see Remus in the doorway. "I'm bored."

Sirius smiled and rolled out of bed, grabbing the pillow from the floor and chucking back at Remus. He glanced at his phone, two in the afternoon, Remus was sure to have been up for hours. Sirius contemplated for a moment, wondering if maybe it would be a bit early... But, then who cares? "Wanna get drunk?"

Remus chuckled. "It's five o'clock somewhere, I suppose."

"Fast and the Furious marathon?" Sirius said, waggling his eyebrows up and down.

“I will never understand your love of those movies.” Remus said, rolling his eyes at Sirius as he turned away and began down the hall. 

Sirius jogged after him, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “The cars!” Sirius raised his fist to emphasize. “They are fast!”

Remus laughed at the way Sirius almost hissed the last word. Not waiting for agreement, Sirius ran to queue up the first movie as soon as they reached the den. Remus took this as a queue to grab the booze. He brought a bottle of bourbon, a few cans of soda, and two cups to the coffee table and started mixing them both drinks. 

Sirius grabbed his drink and began to chug as soon as Remus had finished pouring it. He snuggled himself into the corner of the couch and started the movie. Remus, instead of snuggling into the opposite corner of the couch, as Sirius had expected, sat in the middle of the couch where the cushions met, crowding him even further into the corner. He hid a smile, trying to not jump to the conclusion that Remus did this just to be nearer to him. Sirius knew it was probably because he liked to sit in the middle of the cushions, not because he reciprocated Sirius’ feelings. 

Remus was only halfway through his drink when Sirius finished his. He bent forward to make himself another, not bothering to measure out the shots, as Remus had. Before he could stop himself, he grabbed Remus’ drink out of his hand, chugged the rest, and began to mix him another drink that was much stronger than the last. Remus needed to catch up, he decided. 

He thrust the cup back into Remus’ hand and, to his delight, he took it without protest and took a drink. Sirius chuckled as Remus coughed a bit, screwing up his face at the taste. He met eyes with Sirius and gave him a forced smile, “Delicious,” He stated sarcastically. 

* * *

It took Sirius ten minutes to queue up the third movie and figure out how to get it to play. Remus had a delightful time watching him, giggles escaping him every time he hit back instead of play. Remus had shifted during the movies, leaning slowly but surely into Sirius’ side as he emptied drink after drink. They were practically cuddling now, though neither of them seemed to mind. 

Sirius had to shift to make the remote work, making Remus sit up to get out of his way. Remus pouted at him and Sirius scrunched up his nose in response. He hit play, finally getting it right, threw the remote on the coffee table and grabbed Remus around the waist, pulling him back into his chest as he sank into the couch cushions again. 

Remus grinned at his touch, subconsciously placing his hand over Sirius’ where it still rested on his stomach. He closed his eyes and entwined their fingers, forgetting in his drunken haze about preserving their friendship. All thought of keeping his feelings a secret was wiped from his mind. Any notion that it may be detrimental to their relationship to trace circles on the back of Sirius’ hand was drowned in bourbon. 

He heard Sirius sigh happily underneath him and turned his head so he could see his face. Sirius smiled at him, his eyes shining at him. Remus knew Sirius must be much more intoxicated than him, to every drink Remus had Sirius had two. But he also knew Sirius had a higher tolerance than him… He couldn’t tell his competence level, but he didn’t care as Sirius’ finger ran up his adam’s apple to his chin. He pressed him thumb lightly over Remus’ lower lip before bringing his lips down to replace where his thumb had been. 

Remus was still. When Sirius pulled away he looked anxious and unsure. Remus tried to think but he was swimming in Sirius’ grey eyes as they stared intently into his own. And before he knew what he was doing, he had flipped his body over and pressed his lips more firmly to Sirius’.

Sirius smiled into his mouth and planted his hands on Remus’ hips, pressing their bodies together. After another minute like this, they broke apart once more. Sirius moved his hand up Remus’ back and into his hair, bringing his forehead down to meet his. Remus felt tears burning in the back of his eyes; tears of joy, tears of release, tears of love. 

His heart nearly burst when Sirius breathed out a quiet, “I love you.”

This sobered Remus up a bit, closing his eyes. He rested a hand against Sirius cheek, rubbing the stubble on his chin as he tried once again to gather his thoughts. His fears came back full force. He clenched his jaw tightly. What if Sirius had no idea what he was doing, what he had just said, who he had just kissed. What if, in the morning, Sirius rejected him, taking back his confession of love. Remus wouldn’t be able to handle it if this turned out to be the bourbon talking. 

Sirius nudged his forehead, making Remus finally reopen his eyes. Sirius leaned up to kiss him again and Remus let him, his eyes wide open, watching Sirius as he kissed him to try and figure out if this was real or not. Sirius must have felt his hesitation because he pulled away again and asked if everything was okay.

Remus pulled his eyes from Sirius’, watching his thumb as he traced Sirius’ eyebrow. “Will you still love me in the morning?” His voice was barely a whisper.

At his words, Sirius sat up, Remus ending up in his lap still avoiding eye contact. Sirius grabbed his face with both hands, forcing Remus to look at him. He smashed his lips into Remus’ for a few moments before pulling away again and with more conviction than Remus thought him capable of, he said, “Of course I’ll still love you in the morning. And the next morning, and the morning after that.”

Remus melted at his words and needed no more prompting before connecting their lips once more and forcing Sirius’ shirt off of him. 

The evening went by in a haze of Sirius. His lips trailing paths down Remus’ chest, his hands touching every inch of Remus they could reach, his hair entangled in Remus’ hands and tickling his chest. They somehow made it into the Remus’ room, forgetting about the movie that was left playing. They didn’t care about that anymore.

He couldn’t remember when they stopped or when he’d fallen asleep. He woke up still entangled in Sirius, the morning sun breaking through the blinds and illuminating his plump lips. He stared and stared at the boy next to him, naked and entangled in him. 

Remus didn’t know how much time had passed before Sirius blinked his eyes open, looking straight into his. 

“Do you still love me now that it’s morning?” The words were out of his mouth before he could think. His chest tightened, awaiting Sirius’ reply.

Sirius was quiet for a moment, unmoving. He smiled at Remus and moved his head closer to him, placing a soft, tender kiss on his forehead. “Yes,” he said.

“I love you too, for the record.” Remus said, a world of weight lifting from his shoulders and his heart rate returning to normal. Sirius chuckled at him and moved his lips down to press them against his own. 


End file.
